CUNY SPH is delighted to welcome Deborah A. Levine to the staff. In her new role as community outreach director, Levine will head the school’s Harlem Health Initiative, to address neighborhood service priorities and to improve health and reduce health disparities throughout Harlem.
Levine began her training at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in social work followed by a master’s degree in clinical social work with a minor in family therapy at New York University. She later honed her abilities in Hunter College’s post-graduate program in social work supervision and training, Columbia University Graduate School’s Institute for Not-for-Profit Middle Management program, and its leadership and executive management program.
Throughout her career, she has worked to apply capacity building and technical assistance to community-based organizations, national non-profits, and houses of worship by implementing strategies that increase access to and utilization of health promotion, disease prevention, and risk-and reduction avoidance services for racial/ethnic minority individuals.
Levine is a founding board member and national secretary of the National Black Women’s HIV/AIDS Network, Inc. She also serves on the board of the Coalition on Positive Health Empowerment (COPE), an organization dedicated to the eradication of viral hepatitis. She is the community co-chair for New York Knows and chair of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Women’s Advisory Board.
“I am honored to help facilitate a partnership between CUNY SPH and respected community leaders, who like me, want to ensure that Harlem becomes a healthier and more knowledgeable community with regard to disease prevention and health promotion,” Levine says.